this three year project commenced in december 2000 and was...

Food Skills Definitions, influences and relationship with health

Food Skills: Definitions, Influences and Relationship with Health

ISBN: 978-1-905767-43-4

Publication date: September 2014

Table of contents

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8

1.1 Background to safefood............................................................................................................. 8

1.2 Our changing environment: food skills and health ................................................................. 9

1.3 Objective and terms of reference of the review ....................................................................... 9

2 The Importance of Food Skills ............................................................................................................. 10

Key findings .......................................................................................................................................... 10

3 Defining and Measuring Food Skills ................................................................................................... 12

Key findings .......................................................................................................................................... 12

3.1 Difficulties in defining and measuring food skills ................................................................. 13

3.2 Food skills in the international literature ................................................................................ 15

3.3 Commonly measured food skills ............................................................................................. 20

4 Factors Influencing Food Skills .......................................................................................................... 24

Key findings ......................................................................................................................................... 24

4.1 Socio-economic status ............................................................................................................. 25

4.2 Age .............................................................................................................................................. 25

4.3 Gender ........................................................................................................................................ 25

4.4 Knowledge .................................................................................................................................26

4.5 Attitudes .................................................................................................................................... 27

4.6 Preferences ................................................................................................................................. 27

4.7 Convenience .............................................................................................................................. 27

4.8 Social Environment ................................................................................................................... 28

4.9 Confidence .................................................................................................................................29

5 Relationship between Food Skills and Health................................................................................... 30

4

Key findings ......................................................................................................................................... 30

5.1 Food skills and healthy eating .................................................................................................. 32

5.2 Food skills and dietary quality ................................................................................................. 32

5.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 35

6 Learning Food Skills ............................................................................................................................ 45

Key findings ......................................................................................................................................... 45

7 Food Skills on the IOI .......................................................................................................................... 47

Key findings ......................................................................................................................................... 47

8 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................................. 52

8.1 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 52

8.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 53

5

List of Tables

Table 1 – Commonly measured food skills in relation to health ....................................................................... 21

Table 2 – Food skills and health studies ............................................................................................................ 36

Table 3 - PERIscope study, Bord Bia 2013 (127) ................................................................................................... 50

Table 4 – Evening meal preparation: adults vs. children (126) .......................................................................... 51

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Acknowledgements

safefood wishes to thank all those who were involved in this research project, including the members of

the External Advisory Group:

Mr. Roy Ballam Education Programme Manager, British Nutrition Foundation

Ms. Ruth Balmer Nutritionist, Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland

Prof. Martin Caraher Professor of Food and Health Policy, City University London

Mr. Kenneth Carroll Managing Director at Carroll Food Services

Ms. Glynis Henderson Principle Officer Home Economics, Council for the Curriculum

Examinations and Assessment

Ms. Claire Holmes Dietitian, Western Health and Social Care Trust

Ms. Amanda McCloat Head of Home Economics, St. Angela’s College, Sligo

Ms. Margaret O’Neill Community Dietitian, Health Service Executive

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1 Introduction

1.1 Background to safefood

safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board, is an all-island body charged with conducting research,

facilitating cross-jurisdictional working and promoting food safety and healthy eating messages to

consumers, primarily at a population level. This is done through mass communication, such as print,

radio, television and the web. safefood also collaborates with a variety of partners to promote healthy

eating and better food safety practices on a community level or in specific settings, including schools,

colleges, workplaces and community groups.

safefood works in several key areas relating to food safety and healthy eating. These include: education,

research; and consumer communications. The role of safefood is determined by its governing legislation,

which sets out its functions. These functions are summarised as follows:

• Promotion of food safety

• Research into food safety

• Surveillance of food borne diseases

• Promotion of nutrition

• Research into nutrition

• Promotion of scientific co-operation and linkages between laboratories

• Development of cost-effective facilities for specialised laboratory testing.

safefood’s functions also include the provision of independent, science-based assessment of the food

chain, and the organisation has a role in giving advice on the nutritional aspects of certain foods.

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1.2 Our changing environment: food skills and health

There is strong evidence in the literature of the connection between diet and health. A poor diet has

been recognised as a risk factor for the increased prevalence of chronic disease (1-4), as well as affecting

the risk of future disease and having a role in causing excessive weight gain (5). In the past few decades,

industrialisation, urbanisation, commercialisation and social changes have transformed the social and

economic landscape on the island of Ireland (IOI). These changes in lifestyle and finances have resulted

in a shift in eating patterns, a breakdown of traditional eating habits, the greater availability of high

energy, ready-made foods, and eating outside the home more often, with resulting over consumption.

Convenience has emerged as a key factor in consumer food choices, and many social and environmental

factors have contributed to a decline in time spent in the kitchen. Increases in energy intake and

sedentary behaviour have many health consequences, including excess weight, obesity and increased

risk of developing non-communicable diseases.

Based on these transformations to our food habits and environment, it is time to re-assess what we now

consider ‘food skills’ on the island of Ireland and how these skills might affect our diet and consequently

our health.

1.3 Objective and terms of reference of the review

The report will:

1. Examine definitions of food skills from the international literature

2. Provide a summary of key food skills as a basis for further research on this issue on the island of

Ireland

3. Explore influences on food skills

4. Investigate the relationship between food skills, dietary quality, food safety and health.

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2 The Importance of Food Skills

Key findings

o Knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating is not sufficient to improve dietary standards; other

food skills such as cooking competence, planning and preparation skills are also needed to

translate this knowledge into practice.

o Experts on food skills debate whether there is a decline in the state of contemporary food skills

because of the ready availability of convenience products, or whether these skills have simply

undergone a transition due to changes in modern technology and food availability.

o What’s clear is that food skills equip consumers with the ability to prepare meals for themselves,

without which they might be more inclined to consume pre-prepared or takeaway meals, which

are generally higher in fat, salt and sugar.

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In recent years, debate has been developing worldwide about the state of contemporary food skills (6-9).

Pre-prepared foods and modern technologies have changed how consumers interact with food and

engage in household food work. Some experts argue that due to these changes, home cooking skills are

in decline (10, 11) and others argue that they are undergoing a transition (12, 13).

In order to implement healthy eating guidelines and improve dietary standards, nutrition knowledge on

its own is not sufficient (14). Other food skills such as cooking competence, planning and purchasing

skills are needed to translate this knowledge into practice.

To emphasize how food skills assist nutrition knowledge in achieving healthy diets, it can be useful to

view nutrition knowledge as the ‘what to eat’ and food skills as the ‘how to make it’ (15). This clearly

shows the relationship the two factors have with dietary behaviour. If a person knows what foods are

healthy to eat or what preparation techniques are healthier, but is unable to make that healthy meal, his

or her knowledge cannot be fully realised (16).

Possession of food skills allows for a broader variety of items to be prepared, which enables consumers

to incorporate the vital foods for a healthy diet and broaden their food selection. Consumption of home

cooked meals can also lead to a greater intake of healthier foods such as fruits, vegetables and grains

(17), as well as higher levels of fibre, essential vitamins and minerals, but less fried foods (18). It can result

in lowered cholesterol and saturated/trans-fatty acid levels (15, 17, 18) and in general a greater likelihood

of attaining good dietary standards (16).

Food skills equip consumers with the abilities to prepare meals for themselves (15, 19), without which

they might be more inclined to consume meals that were pre-prepared or frozen or are takeaways (15, 17,

20), which are generally high in fat and cholesterol (21). Otherwise, consumers have to rely on others

such as spouses or family members (19, 22), and trust in the convenience food industry (19, 23), running

the risk of lowered nutritional health (16). Food skills provides the consumer with knowledge of how a

pre-prepared convenience meal was prepared (19). This may prove helpful in determining the healthier

choice amongst convenience meals. Possession of such skills also allows the consumer to be able to

make several types of meals from one food product, thus decreasing food costs (24).

It is therefore apparent why there is a growing recognition that consumers’ cooking skills cannot be

taken for granted. The acquisition of these skills has considerable implications for the food industry (e.g.

for cooking instructions), caterers (for training), health promoters (translating dietary advice into

everyday terms) and domestic life (the pleasure of eating homemade meals)(25).

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3 Defining and Measuring Food Skills

Key findings

o Throughout the literature, the term ‘food skills’ is often used vaguely without a clear definition.

o There is a lack of empirically gathered data on food skills and the evidence base is impeded by a

lack of clarity or consistency in the use of related concepts and terms, such as ‘cooking from

scratch’, ‘pre-prepared’ and ‘cook’.

o The lack of a reliable measurement tool to assess food skills is a fundamental barrier to the

study of food skills and their relationship with dietary quality, food safety or related health.

o Food skills are far more complex than a set of mechanical skills. They encompass perceptual and

conceptual skills, such as planning, organising and budgeting. Food skills are also highly

contextual in nature which makes it even harder to assess and compare them.

o Studies in the literature have often used varying definitions of food skills, and those setting out

to define food skills have often used expert/stakeholder panels and not a theoretical framework.

o F0od skills can be interpreted as both ‘task-centred’ and ‘person-centred’, depending on how

cooking is defined and whether the focus is the capabilities of the cook or the requirements of

the cooking task.

o Definitions of food skills in the international literature vary in terms of focus and detail but

ultimately common themes of planning, preparation and mechanical/practical competencies

are featured .

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3.1 Difficulties in defining and measuring food skills

The debate about the state of contemporary food skills and home cooking has intensified in recent

years. Many have argued that food skills are being routinized, deskilled and devalued by the ready

availability of industrially prepared convenience foods (10, 11), while others suggest that there is an

ongoing revision of domestic practices and skills as ‘cooking’ increasingly becomes a recreational

pastime in addition to a necessary daily task (12, 13). Hypotheses about the deskilling and decline of

home cooking came to prominence in the 1990s (7, 10, 11, 26). These are generally based on a theory by

Harry Braveman (27), which argues that within rationalized and industrial systems, the worker performs

only a simplified part of a complete task and thus is removed from the overall process. Braveman asserts

that this leaves the worker deskilled, dissatisfied and degraded, and that deskilled workers in turn

require ever more simplified and rationalised work. The increased consumption, variety and availability

of industrially pre-prepared food have suggested to some that a deskilling process similar to that

described by Braveman is happening to food and cooking in the domestic environment.

Today’s cooking practices and their relationship with diet quality and people’s health have not been well

studied (6, 19, 28). A fundamental issue and core problem in the study of food skills is the lack of reliable,

generally applicable measurement tools.

In the public health and education domain, which is where most of the research on this topic is

conducted, the terms ‘food skills’ and ‘cooking skills’ are frequently used vaguely and interchangeably

and mostly in reference to techniques (often culturally specific) and tasks such as jointing a chicken; or

making white sauce or short crust pastry. Other related terms and concepts, such as ‘being skilled’ and

‘cooking from scratch’, are also used inconsistently and without clear definition.

Findings from qualitative interviews (13) show that there is a relationship between food skills, knowledge

and cooking practices but this relationship is not straightforward. ‘Cooks’ do not use convenience foods

simply because they cannot cook or as a replacement for fresh or raw foods. But rather they use a range

of skills in preparing and cooking food (using both raw and pre-prepared foods, mostly in combination),

such as mechanical technical skills, as well as perceptual and conceptual abilities, creative and

organisational skills and academic knowledge, in addition to a number of difficult-to-classify skills, such

as preparing food, to satisfy the requirements of others.

Some authors have implied that pre-prepared foods do away with or reduce the need for cooking skills,

and that the cook who uses pre-prepared foods will apply and acquire less skill. They tend to write from

the perspective that cooking and cooking skills are concepts only applicable to the use of fresh or raw

foods. However, if contemporary domestic skills are understood to be the skills used by contemporary

domestic cooks, and those cooks use both raw and pre-prepared foods (29), then cooking skills in this

instance cannot only be associated with the sole use of fresh and raw foods. From this new perspective,

cooking with pre-prepared foods has to be acknowledged as involving skill.

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The lack of food skills can be an important barrier to food preparation (16). However, some (30) have

pointed out that debate about the state of domestic cooking and food skills is speculative and difficult

to develop because there is a lack of empirical data and theoretically based arguments. Little explanation

is offered about how, for example, cooking with pre-prepared foods requires and utilizes less skill than

cooking with fresh and raw foods, what and/or whose cooking skills are changing or being lost in the

deskilling process and so on. Debate is also impeded by a lack of clarity or consistency in the use of

related concepts and terms such as ‘cook’, ‘cooking skills’ and ‘pre-prepared’. ‘Cook’, for example, has

been used to refer to the preparation of fresh and raw foods, the preparation of fresh, raw and pre-

prepared foods, as well as the household task of food provision (31).

Some suggest that understanding cooking skills as a set of practical techniques might not be the most

useful way of gaining insights into the respondents’ cooking practices (29). For example, using a pre-

prepared sauce and fresh vegetables to prepare a sauce for pasta utilises the same technique as making

a similar pasta sauce from fresh, raw ingredients, i.e. preparing vegetables, boiling, simmering and

mixing. As demonstrated by Short (29), cooking skills should be viewed as more complex than a set of

practical, mechanical abilities such as grilling, frying, etc. Perceptual and conceptual skills and

knowledge are demonstrated by cooks’ understanding of how the taste, colour and texture of foods

react when combined, chilled or heated, as well as in their creative abilities to use leftovers or design

meals and dishes around available ingredients. Cooks also use organisational skills to time foods to be

ready simultaneously and fit food preparation into a busy day and with a restricted budget.

Cooking skills can also be highly contextual in nature (13) and this raises a number of questions in

relation to defining and measuring food skills. “What is a skilled cook? Are there technical standards to

be reached or does the domestic cook merely have to be able to produce food that is generally

considered edible? It becomes difficult to compare the skills involved in devoting an entire afternoon to

preparing sushi from scratch and with the aid of a recipe to the skills involved in preparing fish fingers,

chips and peas whilst simultaneously washing up and looking after three children. What is cooking

ability? It seems perverse to argue that a person who occasionally makes scrambled eggs to a

consistency deemed ‘correct’ by food writers is more or less skilled than the person who regularly

preparers a pasta dish for their family with a chilled pre-prepared pasta sauce from the supermarket and

whatever is left in the fridge” (29).

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3.2 Food skills in the international literature

A review of the food skills literature has revealed that studies in this area use varying definitions of what

constitutes food skills. Most studies setting out to specifically define food skills have generally used

expert/stakeholder panels to assess the validity of their tools and measures and not a theoretical

framework. As a result, different studies produce different definitions and measures of food skills based

on their specific criteria and population. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the term ‘food skills’ is

mainly used interchangeably with cooking skills and is frequently used vaguely and in reference to

mechanical techniques and tasks which are often contextual and culturally specific.

There is also a degree of plasticity in the literature when it comes to what is meant by the term ‘cooking’

(32). Sometimes published work dealing with the implications of cooking skills acquisition and practice

in the domestic context evades definition (33, 34). Lack of definition perpetuates assumptions about the

nature and scope of the skills in question. Elsewhere in the literature, cooking skills are gauged through

questions about self-reported confidence rather than observed competence with specific techniques and

foods (19, 35, 36). In general, cooking skills have been typically defined as a set of mechanical or physical

skills used in meal preparation (13).

Nevertheless, “cooking skills in themselves do not guarantee the preparation of meals from basic

ingredients and many people lack the ideas, knowledge and menu-planning skills necessary to organise

a meal” (19). Therefore, food skills can be seen as more than a set of manual and technique-based

abilities, far more than just the discrete practical skills surrounding the physical preparation of and the

application of health to food. Therefore, definitions of such skills may be much more complex and

abstract than previously believed. In addition to the mechanical tasks mentioned above, food skills also

involve conceptual, perceptual and planning as well as fundamental skills of food nutrition, hygiene and

chemistry (13, 37) . Perceptual skills consist of knowing what happens when certain food items are

combined or heated (24). Planning skills are essential and require constant monitoring of and varying

daily meals so that they are not repetitive and satisfy everyone’s tastes (38). Other skills involved are

multi-tasking (13) and reproducing a meal without using recipes (24).

Interpretation of these skills can be dependent on how cooking is defined and on whether the focus of

definition is on the capabilities of the cook or the requirements of the cooking task (29). Therefore, food

skills can be seen as both ‘task centred’ and technical or as ‘person centred’ and therefore contextual.

The task-centred perspective might see making bread as requiring a range of techniques, but a person-

centred approach would consider the perceptual, conceptual, emotional and logical skills used by the

cook and the circumstances or context in which cooking took place. This approach divides cooking skills

into two different categories: domestic and professional cooking skills (13). These can be seen as two sets

of skills that have similar and different aspects. Both share the technical skills of chopping, boiling, etc.

But the situations in which they prepare food as well as their kitchen equipment are different. A

professional chef would have the knowledge and skills for preparing food of consistent high quality and

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preparing several dishes simultaneously, while a home cook would have the knowledge and skills of

creating dishes from leftovers, multi-tasking with children or house chores, and preparing food to meet

the dietary, taste and budgetary requirements of the family (13). Understanding or defining food skills as

a set of cooking techniques is not wrong, it just cannot provide the same depth of insight into people’s

practices, food choices and beliefs about food and cooking that a more person-centred approach can. As

skills experts say, there is no definitive or conclusive way of understanding or defining concepts such as

skill, ability or knowledge. Different kinds of learning and research intentions require that different

approaches be taken (39).

In any discussion of food skills and the way cooking abilities have declined (11, 40), the unspoken

assumption is that there was a time when good cooking skills were more routinely practised – a golden

age (12, 13, 19, 25, 29). Certainly, there can be a measure of comparison with the recent past in accounts

from our parents or grandparents of how they relied more on fresh, unprocessed vegetables, meat and

fish. Knowing how to prepare materials, timing and mastery of all the basic cooking methods were

requirements of everyday life in the recent past. However, it is easy to overstate the incidence of such

skills. Hard times in the early 1920s restricted choice, and necessity may have made people ingenious in

creating meals from very little. Examples of this can be seen in accounts of children between 1939 and

1942 which show that they were unused to sitting down to a meal or using cutlery, and rather were more

accustomed to have a ‘piece’ in the hand, always white bread and generally spread with margarine and

cheap jam. Others were unaccustomed to eating vegetables, soup, puddings or salad. Some children said

they had never seen their mothers cook and that they had not had hot meals at home (41). These reports

demonstrate that what some may now consider the ‘golden age’ of cooking homemade meals from

basic and fresh ingredients may have been exaggerated.

The 1939-45 war had a profound effect on the UK and Ireland’s food supply and distribution. The

problems of material availability and storage techniques necessitated a measure of ingenuity in the past

(42). The people who lived through such experiences may now serve as the benchmark against which

some judge any decline of cooking skills. Perhaps unfairly, today’s young adults’ competence in the

kitchen is compared to their equivalents all those years ago. As cooks today are faced with a different set

of circumstances, their responses will also be different. Currently, although food poverty still exists for

some, in terms of general availability there are no shortages of materials (42). However, it can be argued

that the nutritional quality of some of today’s pre-prepared materials are often poor and require little

preparation before consumption and many are highly processed (43). Successive design innovations and

better ease of control mean that equipment today is also either easier to operate, or requires different

skills. If the latter is the case, then it may be more accurate to see what is happening as a progress of

partial reskilling.

In the domestic domain, there have been changes in the availability of commodities, the technology for

storage, preparation and cooking, and, subsequently, in the threshold level of knowledge and skills

necessary to cook at the most basic of levels. Other factors, such as improvements in pre-prepared

meals, the perceived financial and time costs of sourcing ingredients, and a reallocation of time-usage,

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also have an influence (44). Furthermore, there is the question of whether we are comparing like with

like when we talk about the ‘meal’ in different periods of time. Culture is not static and what is eaten at

particular times of the day can change because of new products, new processes and new situational

demands. Although the ‘hot cooked dinner’ format of the meal is still popular, meal elements may have

been simplified (pork chops or sausages instead of a roast joint of meat), thus reducing the skill

requirements. However, while there is little evidence to suggest marked generational differences in this,

it is a factor to consider in the transmission of skills.

When defining skills, many experts warn about the dangers of over-simplifying and/or over-emphasising

the mechanical aspects of practical tasks. Wallens (45) cautions that because skills are such complex

concepts, a short and simple definition is always misleading. Singleton (46) points out that all practical

tasks require a combination of mechanical abilities, academic knowledge and ‘tacit’ perceptual,

conceptual and planning skills. Skills can also be defined, described and understood at different levels of

detail.

Definitions of food skills in the international literature vary in terms of focus and detail, but ultimately

common themes of planning, preparation and technical/mechanical competencies emerge from most.

Some examples of such definitions are mentioned below:

3.2.1 Canadian Ministry of Health Promotion

According to the Canadian Ministry of Health Promotion, food skills represent “the necessary abilities

needed for the knowledge, planning, conceptualisation, preparation and perception of food” (47). At a

minimum, a definition of food skills should include the following:

Food selection (e.g. menu planning, food shopping)

Healthy food preparation (e.g. chopping, pureeing, cooking, safe food handling and serving)

Food storage (e.g. safe storage techniques).

A more elaborate definition may include the following:

Knowledge includes nutrition knowledge (understanding what vitamins and nutrients are required

to sustain health), label reading (reading the label and understanding how to determine the

nutritional value of the food), food safety (understanding the importance of food safety when

storing, preparing and handling food) and knowledge of food varieties, ingredients and substitutions

for ingredients (understanding which foods can be exchanged within a given recipe and

understanding the variety of ways food can be used so that optimal nutritional value can be derived

from it).

Planning is an understanding of the way meals can be organised to offer nutritional value. This

involves being able to budget while shopping and understanding the preparation needed (time and

skill). Due to a decreasing need to create meals from fresh ingredients, consumers often lack this

skill.

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Conceptualisation is accomplished through creating meal ideas with leftover food and adjusting

recipes to fit the needs of an individual. This requires creativity and an awareness of food varieties.

Given the rise of ready-made meals, this has become a rare skill.

Preparation encompasses mechanical techniques and preparing meals, including chopping, mixing,

blending, cooking and following recipes.

Perception is seen among individuals who use their senses, such as touch, taste and smell, to guide

their cooking techniques.

3.2.2 Essential food skills required in a skill-based healthy eating programme

Fordyce Voorham (48, 49) defines food skills as “the process of purchasing, preparing and cooking food

materials using available resources to produce well-balanced and tasty meals appropriate to age and

needs of the individuals consuming them”.

The essential skills identified by a survey of food experts include:

Knowledge

o Cookery methods (ability to know how to match food products with appropriate cookery

methods to achieve best outcomes and value for money)

o Equipment (ability to know how to competently use small and large items of equipment,

skilfully and proficiently)

o Nutritional health (ability to know what constitutes a healthy meal in relation to meeting

daily health and activity requirements, why it is important to enjoy and consume a wide

variety of nutrient-dense foods, the importance of portion sizes, and how to select nutrient-

dense foods in relation to vegetarian and healthier alternatives)

o Terminology (descriptive and generic instructions that allow an individual to deconstruct

and accurately follow recipes and produce successful meals)

o Troubleshooting (ability to understand why food product outcomes are not successful and

how to rectify them)

o Sources of information (point of sale, television, internet, cook books, etc.).

Skills

o Consumer knowledge and skills (ability to know how to make informed purchase decisions

and, what to do with that food post purchase, be able to interpret and act upon food

labelling, and apply knowledge to make plans, prepare and cook healthy meals and snacks

instead of buying take-away dishes or convenience pre-prepared food products.

o Food safety (ability to understand and apply how to store, prepare and cook food, safely

defrost frozen foods and correctly clean and use kitchen tools and equipment)

o Meal knowledge and skills (ability to understand and apply time management in meal

planning and production: food shopping, preparation and cooking, resulting in the

production of appetising food that matches the budgetary, nutritional and appetite

requirements of the people consuming those meals).

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Resources

o Opportunities for learning (home economics classrooms, restaurants and market visits and

culinary tours)

o Motivation (encouraging practice, trial and error and fun, and enjoyable social experiences

around food)

o Parental involvement (role models, providing encouragement)

o Community involvement (providing information to support programmes, extending,

enriching and skill-based endorsing of healthy eating programmes)

3.2.3 An individualised food skills programme

Porter et al (50) define food skills as the “skills or the variety of skills included in the performing of tasks

associated with the selection, purchase, preparation and consumption of food that are important

components of activities of daily living”.

3.2.4 Examination of home food preparation activities

McLaughlin et al (51) compiled an inventory of cooking skill measurements from the literature, which

examined cooking knowledge, technical skills and competence. However, they maintain that these

measurements do not encompass the broad variety of tasks associated with domestic cooking

competence and that technical, planning, perceptual, conceptual, basic food knowledge and other food-

related skills need to be included in a questionnaire. They suggest that the memorising of recipes, using

ingredients without measuring devices, simultaneously doing other house chores while cooking,

cleaning up after using ingredients like raw chicken, utilizing leftovers and making two dishes out of one

food product are other items of measurement that have not been used so far. According to these

authors, an example of a list of items (Likert scale: Agree/disagree) that represent a comprehensive

definition of domestic cooking competence include:

I make meals that require more than three ingredients (typically packaged convenience foods need

only one or two more ingredients to complete the meal).

I am able to visualise the meal I am going to make and how the food items will come together on

the plate.

I make a grocery list; I plan food for the week; I plan what meals I will make each day.

I am aware of the necessary food hygiene measures to take while preparing food and cleaning up.

I do not need to use recipes because I know through experience which combination of ingredients

can make a tasty meal.

I am able to create a meal out of leftovers.

I am able to do house chores while cooking.

I am distracted from cooking and meal preparation whenever my children are around.

I create meals from scratch without convenience food ingredients.

I know my family’s specific food taste/requirements.

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I know how to create homemade meals that satisfy my family and do not include convenience

foods.

I do not need to use measuring devices when I create meals from scratch.

I know how long certain food items will take to cook.

I can plan according to food item cooking times so that all the items are completed and served at

the same time.

I make sure I have the basic ingredients in storage.

I am flexible and can make a meal out of whatever ingredients I have in the house.

3.2.5 Ready meal consumption and association with cooking skills

In this study (52), cooking skills were assessed using a seven-item, six-point scale: ‘I can cook

complicated multi-course meals’, ‘I can prepare gratin potatoes’, ‘I can prepare a soup’, ‘I can prepare a

sauce’, ‘I can bake a cake’ and ‘I can bake bread’.

3.3 Commonly measured food skills

After reviewing the available international work in relation to definitions of food skills and in

consultation with an expert advisory group, a list of commonly measured food skills was compiled (Table

1), which were of particular relevance in relation to their impact on diet and health.

Since there was no consensus on a definition of food skills in an IOI context, the list of skills in Table 1

will be used to provide a framework for a discussion guide on the topic during the qualitative phase of

this project.

These findings will then help to generate a suitable definition to help assess the relationship between

food skills and health among the IOI population.


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Table 1 – Commonly measured food skills in relation to health

Category/Theme Skill Studies that have included these skills

Diet and Health Nutrition knowledge (demonstrate an understanding of energy and nutrients that are

needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle and sources of such nutrients)

(8, 16-18)

Understand and implement current healthy eating guidelines for a balanced diet (know

the composition of various food groups, e.g. meat gives you iron and protein, and

understand how to translate these into food and food habits

Understand the importance of energy balance (knowledge of proportions and

balance/variety)

(19)

Know the different nutritional requirements of different stages of life (children,

adolescents, pregnant women, adults and the elderly)

Consumer Awareness Be able to understand and make use of information provided on food labels and nutrition

information panels (e.g. understand how to use the ‘per 100g’ vs. the ‘per portion’

columns)

(16, 17)

Understand that various factors may influence food choice (seasonality, cost, culture,

advertising etc.) and make informed decisions accordingly

Consider cost and budget (ability to buy food for a healthy diet on a budget; waste is

primarily a concern for those on a low budget)

(16, 18) (17)


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Cooking, Food

Preparation and Handling

Follow a recipe (18, 20-22)

Menu planning (16-18, 20)

Preparing high nutritional quality meals (23)

Confidence in cooking meals from basic ingredients (11, 21, 22, 24)

Basic techniques to prepare grains, proteins, fruits and vegetables (25)

Know and have confidence in applying various food preparation/handling techniques (e.g.

chopping, mixing, blending, steaming, boiling, stewing, baking, roasting, frying,

microwaving, etc.)

(8, 11, 16)

Perceptual skills (understanding of the properties of food in terms of taste, colour and

texture, and how they react when heated or combined) (8, 26)

Ability to conceptualise the outcome (in terms of taste, colour and texture) of mixing,

heating and chilling foods

(8)

Creativity and awareness (using leftovers, adjusting/modifying recipes to make them

healthier or use available/alternative ingredients (8, 18)

Confidence in using common pieces of kitchen equipment (e.g. cooker, microwave,

blender, etc.)


23

Self-efficacy in preparing a meal and confidence in one’s ability to prepare meals under

challenging circumstances

(1, 11, 20, 21, 23, 27)

Food Safety Understand and implement food safety/hygiene guidelines (during storage, preparation,

handling and cooking)

(19)

Understand and use date mark and storage instructions on food labels (19)

4 Factors Influencing Food Skills

Key findings

o Numerous factors such as age, gender, social class, knowledge and attitudes can influence food

skills, affecting food choice and therefore health.

o There is conflicting evidence on the links between socio-economic status (SES) and food skills.

Some studies show that lower SES groups lack the knowledge and funds to consume fresh fruits

and vegetables and the ability to budget for groceries while others find that lower SES

participants were more resourceful when preparing meals from scratch.

o Food and cooking skills seem to be strongly gendered household tasks, with more than twice as

many women responsible for cooking meals. In addition, women, on average, show higher level

of skill and are more confident in their abilities.

o Convenience food products can be viewed as having both positive and negative effects on

dietary quality. Such foods have introduced variety into diets but at the same time their

excessive consumption is linked with changes in body fat percentage and BMI. Lack of food

skills has been shown to be associated with higher consumption of pre-prepared foods.


25

Numerous studies and reports agree that making the right choices of food can protect against many

food-related illnesses (53-55). However, there are various factors that can influence food skills, affect

food choice and ultimately affect health. Some of these barriers and influences are outlined below.

4.1 Socio-economic status

There have been many conflicting links drawn between socio-economic status (SES) and food skills. A

cross-sectional survey of 21,326 men and women across multiple countries (56) reported that families

with high SES were significantly more likely to purchase and consume fresh fruits and vegetables

(stemming from the knowledge component of food skills, which shows their recognition of fruit and

vegetables as a healthy choice) while those with lower SES and food insecurity lacked the funds to be

able to budget for groceries and kitchen appliances (57). In contrast, others have found that low SES

participants were resourceful when preparing meals from scratch, thus showing evidence of high food

skills (51).

Income and social class were also found to have an effect on consumption of pre-prepared foods, with

higher income consumers purchasing more than twice as many pre-prepared meals (19).

4.2 Age

Research shows that as people get older, their cooking techniques and confidence in their cooking

competence increases. Experience allows the meal preparer to learn through trial and error what foods

their spouses and children do not enjoy or are allergic to, and, as such, older consumers find it easier to

cater for their family’s particular food tastes. These older food preparers are also, through practice, able

to memorize the items needed for several dishes instead of using recipes and measuring devices (38).

4.3 Gender

No other household task seems to be as strongly gendered as cooking. More than twice as many women

are responsible for cooking meals during the week. In addition, women, on average, have higher cooking

skills compared to men, especially in older age groups (33). With higher levels of cooking competence, it

can be assumed that women cook more often. Caraher et al (19) support this, as they found that four out

of five women cooked daily compared to only one out of five men. Women were also more confident of

their cooking competence and being able to cook from scratch.

In men, cooking skills are highly correlated with cooking enjoyment and men are more likely to have

higher cooking skills when cooking is constructed as a fun activity. It is possible that men’s motivation

for domestic cooking may be constructed as cooking when they are in the right mood rather than as an

everyday responsibility while women’s familial role is mostly characterised by their task as the main food


26

provider (33, 58), and cooking rather occurs as an obligation than as a pleasure. On the one hand, it is

possible that cooking may give women a feeling of self-confidence and self-worth as they report the

importance of having control over their family’s food consumption patterns (33). Handing over food

preparation to their partner would mean adapting to men’s ways of eating, which is often regarded as

less health conscious and less health promoting.

Furthermore, some men seem to lack the planning and organising skills necessary for food shopping.

Lake et al (22) examined food shopping and preparation patterns among a sample of men and women

and found that many women took responsibility for food shopping because they claimed their spouse

did not plan ahead for meals, wasted time and spent more money, with the end result of still not having

the necessary food to create a meal, as well as lacking familiarity with their family’s food preferences. As

a result, only 7% of male participants surveyed were responsible for food shopping because they were

more skilled and knowledgeable than their partners (22). These findings are supported by other studies

which reveal that women carry out food preparation tasks almost twice as often as men and that men

tend to buy less fresh produce, decline to write grocery lists and use more convenience food products

(16).

4.4 Knowledge

Knowledge about nutrition, label reading, food safety and food variety also influence food skills. Studies

have shown that interventions designed to help participants discern healthy from non-healthy foods

resulted in favourable increases in dietary choices (59, 60). Other initiatives such as garden programmes,

offering knowledge on and experience with growing and preparing vegetables, consistently lead to a

variety of healthier food choices among participants (61, 62). However, findings of a study by Raza et al

(63) suggest that despite having an awareness of healthy foods, knowledge does not always correlate

with action. Food guidelines simply inform people about healthy food choices and good eating practices.

People need to apply their nutrition knowledge to translate these guidelines into actual daily meal

practices.

Sources of knowledge of cooking skills range from family members to TV programmes. Regardless of

social and economic class, the main source of gathering cooking knowledge and skills (76% of women

and 58% of men) is through mothers, particularly for younger age groups. Another source is cooking

classes (48.6% of women and 15% of men). Other family members, spouses/partners, friends,

magazines, cooking programmes on TV and doctors are other sources of knowledge and skills (19).

Predictably, those in higher educational and social classes use cook books as an important learning

source, whereas lower educational and social classes are more likely to rely on cooking classes at school

which are free (19).


27

4.5 Attitudes

Attitudes towards cooking determines a consumer’s cooking competence as it can be seen as a barrier to

gaining or improving cooking skills (15). Many men assume that they do not require cooking competence

because they believe women will provide food for them (19, 22). However, there has been a shift in

traditional attitudes as young single men are becoming more reliant on their own cooking competence

(19). A literature review by Candel concludes that a negative attitude towards cooking results in a

convenience orientation attitude, with the consumer being more inclined to purchase convenience food

products, whereas enjoyment of cooking has the opposite effect and decreases convenience orientation

(64, 65).

4.6 Preferences

Food preferences and lifestyle factors also have an effect on food skills related to food choices and meal

preparation. Taste plays a large role in food preferences that guide food skills. Stead et al (66) reported

that lower SES respondents found healthy food boring, tasteless and unfulfilling, as well as showing a

preference for high fat foods (67). Therefore, the knowledge required for food skills is often neglected in

favour of the flavour of less healthy foods.

4.7 Convenience

Due to the fast-paced nature of today’s lifestyle, lack of time has become an important barrier to

cooking and healthy eating, and time pressure has been found to have a significant and positive

relationship with pre-prepared meal consumption (16, 66).

Many factors need to be considered when examining what determines a consumer’s convenience

orientation which ultimately affects the consumer’s decision of pre-prepared food purchasing and meal

preparation activities. These include widely researched factors such as time availability, income,

beliefs/attitudes and product characteristics. However, other factors such as cooking competence

(knowledge and skills) and home meal preparation are poorly understood (37).

Food retailers have reacted to consumers’ demands to spend less time in the kitchen by offering a huge

variety of fully or partially prepared foods, which require less or no domestic labour (68) and as, some

assert, contribute to decreasing food skills and in turn health. Various studies in the literature have

linked consumption of pre-prepared or fast foods to changes in body fat percentage and increasing BMI

(69, 70).

In some ways the availability of some convenience food products has had a positive effect through

introducing variety to diets. On the other hand, some argue that the use of these foods has removed the

choice of cooking with raw ingredients and deskilled the consumers, a situation which is intensified by

the lack of opportunity for children to gain cooking skills from parents who use pre-prepared foods (71).


28

A clear association between lack of cooking skills and pre-prepared meal consumption has been

demonstrated in the literature (52), where a dislike of cooking was linked to the frequency of fast food

consumption (72). Therefore, lack of cooking skills might be a barrier to preparing healthy homemade

meals. Unfortunately, this lack of skills reduces consumers’ chances to choose between self-prepared

and pre-prepared foods and might lead to a loss of control over ingredients and food safety and render

consumers dependent on the information given by the food industry (7). Furthermore, convenience food

products are heavily processed and include a lot of sugar, fat and/or salt. Therefore, their high

consumption frequency is related to obesity (52).

No association has been shown between beliefs about the nutritional value and the taste of pre-prepared

foods and age, income and working status. On the other hand, gender (being male), household

composition (single living) and weight status (being overweight) have all been found to be associated

with more positive attitudes about pre-prepared meals as well as lower cooking skills (52). In terms of

actual consumption, age was shown to be the strongest predictor of pre-prepared meal consumption

(highest in those in the 17-39 age groups), followed by cooking skills.

However, there needs to be a distinction made between pre-prepared meals and convenience food

products. Pre-prepared or ready meals are defined as complete meals that require few or no extra

ingredients, prepared by external procedures and designed to replace the main course of a homemade

main meal. They require minimal or no cooking apart from heating (73). In contrast, convenience

products generally require more extensive cooking as part of meal preparation. Therefore, while the use

of pre-prepared foods is associated with lower food skills, the same is not true for convenience products.

These products have been shown to be used by skilled home cooks and their use is entirely normal and

acceptable by modern cooks (29). These cooks never consider that they should make foods such as bread,

sausages, veg-burgers, fruit yoghurts, pasta, breakfast cereals and jam ‘from scratch’.

4.8 Social Environment

Although the influence of gender has already been discussed above, it is important to note that gender

constructs created by society have led to the division of roles played by men and women within a family

where, in general, women are given the responsibility of food provision (19, 22, 24). This designated role

may be the reason why we see a large dependence on mothers for learning how to cook. This role has led

women not only to develop higher cooking skills, but also to develop them at an earlier age compared to

men, who are more likely to first learn cooking at a later age from their wives or partners (19).

Satisfaction from catering for the family (38) (the meal provider naturally wants to please those they are

feeding and through accomplishing this, they feel a sense of satisfaction and pride), changes in

household structure (24) (changes occur in food habits and meal preparation when a child moves away

or a spouse dies, possibly due to a lack of motivation to prepare meals as the previously mentioned

satisfaction disappears), and peer pressure (64) (peer pressure affects adolescents’behaviours


29

significantly and, as such, it may not be ‘cool’ to eat healthily) are all examples of environmental factors

influencing food skills and preparation patterns.

4.9 Confidence

Bava et al (74), in a study of the food provisioning practices of busy mothers, reveal that lack of

confidence in cooking ability was prominent amongst young participants and was found to substantially

influence their food practices.


30

5 Relationship between Food Skills and Health

Key findings

o Evidence suggests that the ability to cook may be linked to health as it encourages positive

attitudes to healthy eating by fostering an awareness of what food is.

o Lack of food skills may have a negative influence on dietary quality as it can lead to a reliance on

pre-prepared foods and takeaways which in turn can result in an unintentional increase in

intakes of energy and fat and an insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables.

o A direct relationship between food skills and health has not been established to date, possibly

due to the lack of a formal definition of food skills. However, there is clear evidence that

procession of food skills can influence healthy eating behaviour, dietary quality and food safety,

which can affect health.


31

Traditionally, diet and health promotion interventions have focused on changing knowledge, attitudes

and behaviour. However, lack of practical food skills to execute the change can undermine such efforts

as the capacity of the informed consumer to control their dietary intake and follow healthy eating

guidelines may be reduced if they cannot cook and prepare meals for themselves (7).

A transition in food skills such as that described by Lang and Caraher (12), where a fundamental cultural

shift occurs in the patterns and kinds of skills required for food preparation and consumption, might

lead to a number of health consequences. As cooking habits change, reliance on pre-prepared foods

could result in an unintentional increase in intakes of energy and fat and an insufficient intake of fruits

and vegetables. Improving food and cooking skills, on the other hand, can have a long term positive

impact on consumers’ cooking confidence as well as improved healthful eating habits (75-77).

The changes in the food industry and environment in recent decades have had considerable impact on

consumers’ food choices and practices, including the amount of time given to food preparation and

cooking and the level of skills used (78). However, an examination of how this restructuring of skills

relates to dietary quality and health has seldom been included in the available research (7). When such

evaluations have been conducted, they have been primarily in the context of programme evaluations

that have only included programme participants and self-reported behaviour (17, 77, 79, 80). Although

direct measures of at-home cooking practices are not readily available (51), most of these evaluations

show promising results that indicate positive, though small, dietary changes and increased confidence in

food preparation.

Whilst a direct relationship between food skills and health status has not yet been drawn from research,

some would argue that cooking skills are the most important factor affecting dietary behaviour and that

a better understanding of them could improve health education policy and practice (7).

Although there is a major gap in the literature regarding surveillance data related to food skills, it is clear

that there are many factors contributing to levels of food skills among various populations. The evidence

suggests that the ability to cook is linked to health (Table 2), as it encourages proper attitudes to healthy

eating by fostering an awareness of what food is (26). Vrhovnik concurs and suggests that lack of food

skills could be a major preventable link to becoming overweight and obese (81). Lack of necessary food

skills has a negative influence on consumers’ dietary quality, as those who lack food skills also lack the

ability and opportunity to control their diet with ease and follow healthy eating principles (20). Research

has also shown that active cooking experiences combined with nutrition knowledge instead of solely

theoretical nutrition knowledge is more effective in changing dietary behaviour (14, 19, 80). Furthermore,

increased cooking competence can result in better nutrition knowledge (17), as well as enabling cooks to

prepare different food items and dishes, thereby increasing food choice opportunities and food variety. It

is well known that food variety is one factor among others that may increase the intake of fruit and

vegetables (82, 83), which is a marker of a healthy diet.


32

5.1 Food skills and healthy eating

The addition of hands-on cooking activities to nutrition and health interventions allows for nutrition

knowledge and practical food competencies to come together to improve dietary habits (84). Nutrition

knowledge, analytical skills for planning and evaluating nutritional quality of meals, technical

competence and refined cooking skills are all needed (84). In particular, interventions targeting cooking

skills have been suggested to be an effective strategy to promote healthy eating (52).

Population groups with lower income and socio-economic status tend to have poorer dietary intakes and

higher risk of chronic conditions (85-89). These populations are also more likely to lack nutrition

knowledge and cooking skills (90). The lack of such skills reduces their chances of cooking and

consuming freshly cooked meals (16) resulting in lower dietary quality (91). In addition to the above, poor

food skills have also been reported to be strong predictors of ready-meal consumption (52), which can

contribute to increased total energy, fat, salt and sugar intake (73). As a result, interventions targeting

cooking skills have been identified as an effective strategy in promoting healthy eating (52) and

positively affecting food choice, particularly for low income groups (79).

In a study examining the relationship between food preparation activities and food security, McLaughlin

et al (51) reported that the increased complexity of at-home food preparation was associated with living

in more food secure settings. However, it was not clear whether greater preparation complexity may

have contributed to the participants’ abilities to avoid food insecurity or whether more food secure

participants had greater amounts of food available and therefore had more complex meal preparation

routines. In another study of food habits, investigators found that participants with the highest dietary

quality cooked more often and cooked meals with more complex preparation steps (16).

In general, taking part in food preparation activities has been shown to be related to healthier food

choices (16), whereas lack of cooking skills has been associated to use of convenience food products (6,

68). Increased consumption of such products has been linked to becoming overweight and obese (52).

5.2 Food skills and dietary quality

Research shows that those who report being more involved in food purchase and preparation or those

who cook most often are more likely to meet dietary guidelines (16). Cooking empowers individuals and

families to have a varied and balanced diet (19). As a life skill, the physical activity of cooking encourages

higher order cognitive processes, such as reasoning, planning and decision making (92). Such skills

enable the consumer to prepare different food items and dishes and therefore increase food choice

opportunities and food variety which in turn, among other factors, may lead to increased intake of foods

such as fruits and vegetables (82, 83).

The facilities available and the ability to prepare food and follow a recipe can also impact on consumers’

food choices (79). In the UK, 10% of people cite not knowing how to cook as a factor limiting their food

choice (19). If people are reliant on convenience and pre-prepared foods, which require minimal


33

preparation, they will become increasingly disconnected from food preparation and have limited food

choice (93). There is also evidence to suggest that convenience foods and foods consumed away from

home can lower diet quality and raise energy density as well as leading to increased levels of fat, sugar

and salt (94). In contrast, food prepared at home tends to be more nutritious (16, 51), and a healthier

dietary variety can be achieved by those who regularly prepare meals at home (19). Furthermore, cooking

with fresh ingredients gives consumers maximum control over choice of ingredients and allows for

healthy eating guidelines (e.g. levels of salt, sugar and fat) to be followed more rigorously.

5.2.1 Knowledge

Food skills and nutrition knowledge have been associated with healthy eating. According to Wardle et al.

(95), knowledgeable individuals are 25 times more likely to consume adequate daily amounts of fruit and

vegetables. A similar finding was reported in a study by USDA (96), which showed that the more mothers

know about food and nutrition, the better the quality of their children’s diets. Elbon et al. (97) also found

nutrition knowledge to be strongly associated with reading of nutrition information panels on food

products and positive nutrition-related health seeking behaviour. According to Lang et al. (7), absence of

knowledge on how to prepare meals from basic ingredients and what constitutes food composition has

made some contribution to increases in fat intake. However, knowledge alone does not predict healthy

food behaviour as there are many additional social and environmental factors that influence food choice

(98).

5.2.2 Time spent on food preparation

Various studies have aimed to verify the relationship between the amounts of time spent preparing food

and diet quality. However, there is no guarantee that spending more time preparing food will result in

better diet quality. For example, raw fruits and vegetables are both healthy and convenient while a

homemade chocolate soufflé is a time consuming source of empty calories (99).

The American Use of Time Survey results reveal that healthy weight individuals spend more time in food

preparation than overweight individuals, and both healthy weight and overweight individuals spend

more time in food preparation than obese individuals (100, 101). However, survey data limitations have

prevented researchers form estimating the relationship between the time spent in food preparation and

diet quality. Another drawback of these estimates is that they cannot distinguish the effects of food

consumed away from home, which would reduce time spent cooking, from the effect of cooking at other

meals. This in turn may bias the estimated correlation between time spent cooking and BMI.

Mancino et al. (99) looked at the impact of time spent cooking on BMI groupings and reported (after

controlling for individual level fixed effects and meal type as well as meals away from home) that more

time spent in food preparation may be of benefit for obese respondents as an additional 10 minutes is

estimated to increase dietary quality (an additional two points on the healthy eating index), lower energy

density and increase dark green and orange vegetable consumption.


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5.2.3 Food safety

International research shows that there are many gaps in food safety knowledge and practices that may

result in food borne diseases. Food can be mishandled at a variety of places during food preparation,

cooking and storage, and the evidence indicates that consumers have inadequate knowledge about the

measures needed to prevent food borne illness in the home (102).

On the island of Ireland, McCarthy et al. (2007) (103) and Kennedy et al. (2005) (104) have shown that

young people, and both older and younger men, may be particularly at risk of low levels of food safety

knowledge. This is consistent with the international literature (105-109). The effect of educational levels

is unclear, but formal food safety training (e.g. home economics or food hygiene courses) may be

important.

Although preparing, handling, cooking and storing food safely are major components of food skills, they

have not been given as much attention in the literature. Observation of food handling practices of

consumers, specifically to determine how often proper food safety practices were employed during

home food preparation, including at meal preparation, service, post meal clean up and leftover storage

(110), reveal that at least one critical violation (one that could by itself lead to potential foodborne illness)

was observed in 96% of households across the US and Canada. Less than 1% of households met the

minimum criteria for acceptable performance (zero critical violations and no more than four major

violations). In a similar study in Britain, Worsfold and Griffith (111) observed 108 consumers preparing

meals in their own homes and found high levels of poor food handling and failures to follow guidelines.

Studies on the island of Ireland have examined food safety behaviours, including temperature control,

cooking and cross contamination. In relation to temperature control, Bolton (2006) showed that the

majority of householders (>75%) did not know the correct temperature for refrigeration. Most did not

possess thermometers for either the fridge (76.8%) or freezer (71.5%). A total of 57% of householders

reported the use of unsafe practices to defrost frozen meat, with over half defrosting meat at room

temperature. In addition, approximately half of the refrigerators surveyed had an average temperature

above the recommended 1-5°C temperature range, increasing the risk for the multiplication of food-borne

pathogens during storage (particularly Listeria) (112).

A study by Kennedy et al (2011) investigated if safefood's advice in relation to cooking meat safely was

put into practice by 120 participants preparing a warm chicken salad followed by a homemade beef

burger in test and domestic kitchens across the IOI. In this study, 77 per cent of participants did not

check that the chicken was fully cooked by cutting it with a knife and looking at the colour in the middle.

Raw meat bacteria were detected in 17 per cent of ‘cooked’ chicken (cross-contamination may have been

another cause). After food preparation, 30% of ‘cooked’ beef burgers were still pink in the middle and 37

per cent of ‘cooked’ burgers contained raw meat bacteria. This research highlights the frequency of

undercooking, even in test conditions, amongst a group of consumers on the IOI (113).

The same study identified cross-contamination occurring as a result of unsafe food preparation

practices. During food preparation, 84 per cent of people did not thoroughly wash their hands after


35

handling the raw chicken and 72 per cent failed to properly wash a knife used in preparing raw chicken

before its reuse on salad vegetables. A total of 57 per cent of people using a knife to prepare burgers

failed to thoroughly wash the knife before reusing it to cut raw salad vegetables. These behaviours all

resulted in raw meat bacteria being detected on ready-to eat salad vegetables, hands and kitchen

utensils.

The Kennedy et al. (2011) study showed that participants’ scores on the food safety knowledge and scores

on the observed safe food behaviour were moderately and positively correlated and food safety

knowledge was an important predictor of observed food safety score. These results indicate that

improving food safety knowledge can have an impact on food safety practice but is not the sole solution

for improving food safety behaviour. The participants had, in general, a good knowledge and

understanding of the importance of food safety, but this was not, however, always practised (113).

5.3 Conclusions

Advances in the food technology and industry, as well as changes in consumers’ daily lives and habits,

have resulted in changes in food provision and preparation practices and the level of skills required by

these tasks. A direct relationship between food skills and health has not yet been established in research.

This may be partly due to the fact that a formal definition of food skills has yet to be agreed upon in the

literature. However, it is clear that food skills can influence healthy eating behaviour, dietary quality and

food safety for consumers, which in turn can affect their health.


36

Table 2 – Food skills and health studies

Study Location Year Findings in relation to food skills

Interventional studies

When chefs adopt a school?

An evaluation of cooking

intervention in English

primary schools (114)

England 2013 Professional chefs linked with local schools, where they delivered up to three sessions (food, healthy

eating, nutrition and cookery) to one class over a year. Those taking part in the intervention reported a

significant increase in cooking confidence and consumption of vegetables. No significant changes

were observed in the control group.

Evaluation of cooking skills

programme in parents of

young children (75)

Scotland 2013 Data collected at baseline, post intervention and one year follow up of a cooking skills programme

delivered by the NHS show significant increases from baseline to post intervention in confidence to

cook with basic ingredients, follow simple recipes, prepare and taste new foods. These changes in

confidence were retained at one year follow up for following a simple recipe and preparing and cooking

new foods. Confidence levels for cooking with basic ingredients and tasting new foods decreased

significantly at one year follow up but did not drop to baseline levels.

Cooking skills are

important competencies for

promoting healthy eating in

an urban indigenous health

service (115)

Australia 2011 Cooking skills were essential for facilitating practical workshops to promote healthy cooking and

eating among participants. The workshops provided participants with new cooking ideas,

opportunities to cook new recipes and some unfamiliar ingredients, as well as learning new cooking

skills. Cooking skills enhanced the process of effective community engagement and nutrition

promotion and enabled the participants to be more confident preparing healthy meals at home.

The impact of a

community-based food

Scotland 2007 Pre and post intervention and six month follow up measures were collected in a community-based

practical food skills intervention. Fruit and vegetable intake significantly increased from pre to post


37

skills intervention on

cooking confidence, food

preparation methods and

dietary choice – an

exploratory trial (79)

intervention; however, at follow up, fruit and vegetable intake were similar to baseline. Percentage of

participants cooking from basic ingredients was higher at six months follow up than at pre or post

intervention.

Cooking classes increase

fruit and vegetable intake

and food safety behaviours

in youths and adults (77)

USA 2005 After participating in classes on a variety of fruit and vegetable preparation methods, including

microwaving, stir frying, steaming, baking, pressure cooking, grilling and slow cooking, as well as

incorporating fruit and vegetables into smoothies, salads, snacks, desserts, soups and one dish meals,

participants reported a significant increase in daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Significant

improvements were also observed in food handling behaviours, such as washing hands before food

preparation, washing fruits and vegetables before preparation and using a clean knife and cutting

board.

Cooking classes outperform

cooking demonstrations for

college sophomores (17)

USA 2004 All participants in both demonstration and cooking groups reported a positive shift regarding

confidence using various cooking techniques but the intervention group had statistically significant

gains.

The Cookshop programme:

Outcome evaluation of a

nutrition education

programme linking

lunchroom food

experiences with classroom

cooking experiences (80)

USA 1998 Positive effects from the intervention were observed on preference, knowledge and plate waste. The

results suggest that actual cooking experiences and eating food with peers, accompanied by cognitive

learning, may provide a promising approach to nutrition education.


38

Observations Studies

Shared meals among young

adults is associated with

better diet quality and

predicted by family meal

patterns during

adolescence (116)

USA 2013 More frequent shared meals in young adulthood was associated with higher intake of fruits and

vegetables among men and women, with higher intakes of milk products and some key nutrients

among women. Having more frequent family meals in adolescence also predicted a higher frequency

of shared meals in young adulthood.

Importance of cooking

skills for balanced food

choices (6)

Switzerland 2013 Cooking enjoyment was the most important predictor of cooking skills, especially in men. Women had

higher cooking skills in all age groups. Cooking skills correlated positively with weekly vegetable

consumption but negatively with weekly convenience food consumption frequency, even while

controlling for the effect of health consciousness related to eating.

More than preparing a

meal? Concerning the

meanings of home cooking

(117)

Belgium 2012 Cooking is influenced by individual, family and cooking related determinants. Social background,

family situation, employment status, educational level and people’s attitudes towards traditional

gender roles and time pressure all influence consumers’ cooking experiences. Those who attach

greater importance to the social aspects of cooking and do not feel rushed in their daily activity are

more likely to experience cooking as a leisure activity rather than a necessity. Cohabiting couples,

especially those with children, acknowledge cooking as a way of showing care, whereas those living

alone tend to experience cooking as a chore. Cooking is more likely to be considered a pleasure when it

is shared with or done in the presence of others and meant to please others who join in eating.

Does more cooking mean

better eating? Estimating

USA 2012 After controlling for individual fixed effects and meal type and excluding meals away from home,

findings suggest that for non-overweight individuals, the effect of time spent preparing food has no


39

the relationship between

time spent in food

preparation and diet quality

(99)

significant impact on diet quality. However, for obese respondents, an additional 10 minutes in food

preparation is estimated to increase dark and orange vegetable consumption and reduce energy

density.

Does living in a food

insecure household impact

on the diets and body

composition of young

children? (89)

England 2012 Children living in food insecure households were more likely to have a diet of poorer quality,

characterised by greater consumption of white bread, processed meat and chips and lower

consumption of vegetables.

The current state of cooking

in Ireland: the relationship

between cooking skills and

food choice (32)

Ireland 2011 92% of respondents agreed that having cooking skills contributes to a healthy diet and reduces

dependence on takeaway meals. All respondents above the age of 27 reported coming from a

background where home cooking was the norm (93% in 17-26 year olds). Over 58% reported reading

labels when purchasing food while 27.5% reported that they ‘never’ or do ‘not often’ read labels.

Greater percentage of women reported reading labels (32.2% vs. 22.8%).

Identification of essential

food skills for skill-based

healthful eating

programmes in secondary

schools (48)

Australia 2011 Food experts, including home economics educators, chefs, nutritionists and dieticians, described food

skills required for young people to live independently. These included the four themes of knowledge

(understanding of nutrition, different cooking methods and recipe modification), information (ability

to read and understand and act upon various sources of information), skills (planning, shopping,

preparation, cooking, storing, organisation and food safety) and resources (time, equipment and

transport).

Improvement of meal

composition by vegetable

Switzerland 2011 Participants were randomly assigned to serve themselves lunch from a buffet of food offering the

choice of carrots with pasta and chicken, or green beans with pasta and chicken, or carrots and green


40

variety (82) beans with pasta and chicken. Results showed that those who chose from two vegetables derived

significantly more energy from vegetables compared to the other two groups. Total energy content

from the meal was not affected.

Socio-economic differences

in weight control

behaviours and barriers to

weight control (90)

Australia 2011 After adjusting for age, gender and BMI, results showed that socio-economically disadvantaged groups

were less likely to engage in weight control. They were also more likely to believe losing weight was

expensive, not of high priority, required a lot of cooking skills and involved eating differently from

others in the household.

Does involvement in food

preparation track from

adolescence to young

adulthood and is it

associated with better

dietary quality? Findings

form a 10 year longitudinal

study (118)

USA 2011 Participants in their mid to late twenties who enjoyed cooking were more likely to have engaged in

food preparation as adolescents and emerging adults. Emerging adult food preparation predicted

better dietary quality for the mid to late twenties age group, including higher intakes of fruit and

dark/orange vegetables and less sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food consumption.

Ready meal consumption:

associations with weight

status and cooking skills

(52)

Switzerland 2010 Cooking skills were identified as a strong predictor of ready meal consumption. There was a clear

association between ready meal consumption and lack of cooking skills. Men and overweight adults

had more positive attitudes towards ready meals. Ready meal intakes of 17-39 year olds, those living in

a single person household and those with lower education levels were significantly higher.

Dietary patterns and

cardiovascular risk markers

in the UK Low Income Diet

UK 2010 Results revealed that participants consuming more items from the ‘fast food’ pattern were younger,

more likely to be smokers and employed, but not partnered.


41

and Nutrition Survey (87)

Convenience food products:

drivers for consumption

(68)

Switzerland 2010 Age (younger), higher concerns about the naturalness of foods, higher levels of nutrition knowledge

and cooking skills, having children and trying to avoid food waste all predicted lower levels of

convenience food consumption.

Mothers and meals. The

effects of mothers’ meal

planning and shopping

motivations on children’s

participation in family

meals (119)

USA 2010 Mothers’ beliefs in the importance of family meals increased the likelihood of children eating dinner

with families, by increasing the likelihood that mothers planned dinner and that dinners were regularly

scheduled. Mothers’ perceptions of time pressures on meal preparation had a negative, indirect effect

on the frequency of children’s participation in family dinners by reducing mothers’ meal planning.

Dietary patterns of school

aged children in Scotland:

association with socio-

economic indicators,

physical activity and

obesity (88)

Scotland 2009 Healthier dietary patterns loading highly for fruit and vegetables were significantly associated with

higher socio-economic status and higher education levels for the main food provider, whereas more

unhealthy patterns were associated with lower socio-economic status and education levels of the

main food provider. Screen time was inversely associated with healthier dietary patterns. There were

no associations between dietary patterns and BMI group or time spent in physical activity.

Which food related

behaviours are associated

with healthier intakes of

fruit and vegetables among

Australia 2007 Food-related behaviours reflecting organisation and forward planning, as well as enjoyment of and

high perceived value of meal shopping, preparation and consumption, were associated with healthier

intakes of fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, those participants who found cooking a chore

spent less than 15 minutes preparing dinner, decided on the night what they would eat for dinner, ate


42

women? (91) fast foods and takeaways, ate dinner and snacks while watching TV and frequently ate on the run were

less likely to eat two or more servings of vegetables a day.

Food preparation by young

adults is associated with

better diet quality (16)

USA 2006 Participants reporting frequent food preparation also reported less frequent fast food use and were

more likely to meet dietary objectives for fat, calcium, fruit and vegetables and wholegrain

consumption. Sex (male), race (African American) and living situation (campus housing) were

significantly related to less frequent food preparation.

Quantifying the impact of

food preparation skills

among college women (15)

USA 2006 The dominant reasons for being unable to prepare basic foods in this population were knowledge

barriers (‘never been taught’) and attitude barriers (‘no interest in learning’). Most of these college

women ate food prepared outside the home one to three times a week.

Domestic cooking practices

and cooking skills: Findings

from an English study

England 2003 Cooking skills can be seen either as task centred or person centred and contextual, and as consisting of

perceptual, conceptual, as well as organisational, practical and mechanical skills and academic

knowledge. Results also reveal that there is no clear cut relationship between the domestic cooks’

skills and knowledge and their cooking practices and food choices.

An examination of at-home

food preparation activity

among low income, food

insecure women (51)

Canada 2003 97% of participants consumed food prepared from scratch at least once during the three day

observation, 57% did so each day. Both the frequency and complexity of at-home food preparation

were positively related to women’s energy and nutrient intakes and their consumption of fruits and

vegetables, grain products, and meat and alternates. The intakes by women in households with food

insecurity and hunger reflected less complex food preparation but no less preparation from scratch

than women in households where hunger was not evident, raising questions about the extent to which

food skills can protect very poor families from food insecurity and hunger.

Food shopping practices are USA 2001 Food shopping practices, such as ‘looking for grocery specials’, using coupons, using shopping lists or


43

associated with dietary

quality in low income

households (120)

engaging in ‘comparison shopping’, were significantly associated with the availability of nutrients in

the food the households used during a week. Planning meals ahead and ‘thinking about healthy food

choices’ were also significantly associated with increased consumption of nutrients.

Nutrition knowledge and

food intake (95)

England 2000 Knowledge was significantly associated with healthy eating, and the effect persisted after controlling

for demographic variables. Nutrition knowledge was shown to be a partial mediator of the socio-

demographic variation in intake, especially for fruit and vegetables.

Demographic factors,

nutrition knowledge and

health seeking behaviours

influence nutrition label

reading behaviours among

older American adults (97)

USA 2000 Being female, high nutrition knowledge and positive nutrition-related health seeking behaviours were

most strongly and consistently associated with the use of food labels. Participants read labels for

saturate fat and cholesterol more than for protein and calcium.

The state of cooking in

England: the relationship of

cooking skills and food

choice (19)

England 1999 Socio-economic status and education are associated with the sources of people’s knowledge about

cooking. Mothers followed by cooking classes are the most important sources of learning about

cooking skills. Overall, results show a population unsure of specific cooking techniques and lacking in

confidence to apply techniques and cook certain foods.

Food safety behaviour in

the home (111)

UK 1997 Safe cooking practices were used by a majority of consumers; some used potentially unsafe practices

such as transporting and storing food at the wrong temperature, holding cooked food at ambient

temperature for prolonged periods and inadequate reheating.


44

Reviews

Exploring mediators of food

insecurity and obesity: a

review of recent literature

(86)

International 2012 Overall the review confirmed that food insecurity and obesity continue to be strongly and positively

associated in women. New mediators such as gender, marital status, stressors and food stamp

participation were revealed that alter the association.

Understanding and

measuring cooking skills

and knowledge as factors

influencing convenience

food purchases and

consumption (37)

International 2010 The literature review revealed that mothers and cooking classes are the most important sources for

acquiring cooking skills, while factors such as gender, age, income, social/educational class, attitude

and social environment determine how one acquires their cooking competence.

Does social class predict

diet quality? (85)

International 2008 The cross-sectional studies reviewed above permit the conclusion that higher quality diets are, in

general, consumed by better educated and more affluent people. Conversely, lower quality diets tend

to be consumed by groups of lower SES and more limited economic means. This conclusion is based on

a review of empirical data and some computer modelling of dietary habits subjected to cost and other

constraints.

An international

perspective on food and

cooking skills in education

(26)

International 1996 This looks at the national school curriculums of Iceland, Finland, Ireland, France, the Netherlands,

Spain, New Zealand and Canada in comparison with the British National Curriculum in order to

strengthen the argument for prioritizing food cookery skills in schools as an effective strategy to

improve dietary standards among individuals and families.


45

6 Learning Food Skills

Key findings

o Families and in particular mothers are reported as the main source of learning about basic

cooking skills.

o Cooking classes in schools, though not compulsory in many countries, are also a major

source of learning for food skills.

o Some authors suggest that today’s younger generation is not acquiring adequate food skills.

Nowadays busy daily lives and professional commitments mean that parents may be cooking

less frequently at home. In addition, practical learning courses in schools such as home

economics are not available in some schools and generally have a low level of engagement,

particularly among boys.

o It is important to emphasize food skills training, both formal and informal, particularly but

not only in children, as lack of such skills may hinder attempts at changing and/or improving

food-related behaviour in the future.


46

The acquisition of food skills is dependent on the skills learnt in the home, at school and on individual

self-directed learning by means of books, magazines or televised cooking programmes. In the past,

cooking classes in schools (mainly compulsory in the UK in the past century) were seen as a source for

learning cooking skills (32). Today, families and in particular mothers are reported as the major

sources of learning about basic cooking skills from an early age (12, 19, 81). However, each of these

routes is under threat. Firstly, cooking classes in schools are no longer formally taught in many

countries (26). Secondly, the changing family dynamics mean that there is a decline in the

intergenerational transmission of basic cooking skills at home as parents are not cooking from fresh

raw ingredients, possibly due to work or other commitments (6, 121).

Nowadays consumers tend to adopt more time-saving measures in relation to their daily food

consumption (92) due to their busy daily lives. This is evident in the current speedy food preparations

with minimal effort and in the decreased amount of time allotted for eating. Improvements in food

technology have enabled the food industry to respond to this demand with an increasing availability

of convenience and ready-to-eat food (122). Consequently, cooking skills become less frequently

practised on a daily basis because it is no longer necessary to cook to get one’s daily nutrition supply.

On the other hand, allocated hours to practical learning in schools have also been reduced. Home

economics courses are not available in all secondary schools (32) and when available, there is generally

a low level of involvement (123). The consequences of these circumstances may hinder any attempts at

changing dietary behaviour in the future.

Given the high preference/prevalence of pre-prepared foods (124), it is possible that nowadays

children do not have their parents’ food skills to emulate. This puts even greater emphasis on the role

of non-domestic sources of food skills learning to ensure that the next generation of Irish children

does not miss out on this essential life skill (32).


47

7 Food Skills on the IOI

Key findings

o Lack of time, attitudes, cost, lack of skills and confidence has all been cited as barriers to

cooking.

o Although almost all parents surveyed report that it is important for children to learn how to

cook and the majority of children surveyed report that they would like to improve their

cooking skills. However, only half the children reported cooking, at most, twice a year at

school.

o Overall, a trend towards increasing interest in home cooking can be observed in the IOI

population, with 42% of consumers reporting that they cook their evening meal from scratch

on six or more evenings a week.


48

Food preparation practices have developed dramatically over the last century in the IOI,

shifting from almost exclusive use of raw ingredients to being greatly dependent on

processed foods, which are heavily consumed by adults, particularly those in the 15-24 year

age brackets (125). This shift has also led to a change in cooking skills. There would appear to

be plenty of evidence of a recent reduction in domestic cooking. On the IOI in 2011,

consumers on average spent 41 minutes preparing and cooking their meal on a weekday

evening, increasing to 53 minutes on Sundays (126). Work, family responsibilities, lack of time

and knowledge, as well as cooking skills, have all been cited as contributing factors to the

degree of reliance on convenience foods (74). This has further implications for the passing of

domestic cooking skills and knowledge to the next generation. Parents who use pre-prepared

meals as their food provisioning norm will give their children fewer opportunities to learn

cooking skills since active cooking experiences are needed to promote positive attitudes to

healthy eating (26) and to translate nutrition knowledge into routine habit (14). According to

a survey conducted by Lang et al (7) in the UK, less than half of the participants reported

cooking a meal every day in the previous week. However, respondents in the same survey

reported that 7% of meals consumed in the previous week were ready made and 5% were

takeaways. This disparity could be attributed to some plasticity in what is meant by ‘cooking’

and the meaning attributed to ‘ready meals’.

Having a healthy balanced diet remains a challenge for many people at all levels of society on

the IOI, but it is particularly important for those who cannot cook. In a survey of respondents

from the ROI (32), 96.8% indicated that they come from a background where home cooking

was the norm. All age groups from 27 years upwards recorded a 100% ‘yes’ to this question,

whereas only 93% of the 17-26 year olds recorded ‘yes’. This may have implications for the

future, as this cohort has been disadvantaged in two ways. It has missed out on both the

cultural experience aspects of home cooking, as well as a valuable means of learning to cook.

The majority (92%) of the participants in this study agreed that having cooking skills

contributes to having a healthy diet. Almost all respondents felt that this would make one

more dependent on other sources of food provision, such as takeaways or pre-prepared

meals.

Lack of time, attitudes (“other things are more important”), cost vs. value (“scratch cooking is

expensive”) and lack of skills and confidence were cited as barriers to cooking. While 90% of

parents reported that it is important for children to learn how to cook, and 83% of children


49

reported that they would like to improve their cooking skills, only half the children in the

sample cooked a maximum of twice a year at school.

A recent report published by Bord Bia (127) as part of their biennial survey of consumers across

10 countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Republic of Ireland

(ROI), Great Britain (GB), United States and New Zealand), has looked at food shopping and

cooking practices of consumers (Table 3) from the ROI and GB (Northern Ireland not included

in the 2013 report). Face-to-face surveys were conducted with 1,000 respondents (+15 years) in

ROI and 1,029 (+16 years) respondents from GB. Demographic descriptions of the sample are

available elsewhere (127). Overall, the ROI respondents were slightly more positive in their

attitudes towards food than GB participants. ROI adults were more likely to eat foods low in

fat and avoid sugary foods, and were also less likely to eat ready prepared/convenience

meals.

In contrast, GB shows slightly better culinary expertise than ROI. Just under two thirds of

residents in GB claim that they would be ‘confident to cook a Sunday roast with all the

trimmings/would enjoy hosting a dinner party where they do all the cooking’ (65% in GB vs.

59% in ROI). However, ROI residents are displaying a growing confidence regarding their

abilities in recent years. For both ROI and GB, a significantly higher percentage of women

compared to men expressed ‘confidence to cook a Sunday roast with all the trimmings/would

enjoy hosting a dinner party where they do all the cooking’ (76% vs. 42% in ROI and 78% vs.

51% in GB).

The incidence of eating out of the home tended to be higher for those describing their diet as

unhealthy, single-person households (ROI) and having basic or no cooking skills (GB).


50

Table 3 - PERIscope study, Bord Bia 2013 (127)

Great Britain ROI

Positive attitude to cooking (fun and passion) 47% 42%

Children’s interest in cooking 15% 25%

Attending/taking cooking lessons 6% 12%

Importance of eating well 28% 34%

Eat out of the home only for special occasions 72% 84%

Eating out of the home during the week 30% 23%

Eat out of the home as a treat or something different 28% 35%

Responsible for preparing own meals at home 54% 48%

Cooking meals from scratch once/few times a day 48% 36%

Convenience/ready meals are good value for money 59% 47%

Convenience/ready meals are good substitute for home cooking 49% 42%

Convenience/ready meals are always in the home 37% 28%

Use only the microwave for food preparation 12% 6%

In a separate survey in 2011, Bord Bia (126) explored the evening meal time behaviour of IOI consumers

(n=1003) by looking at food shopping and preparation behaviours of consumers as well as collecting

data on the types of dishes, cooking styles and ingredients used by consumers. The results reveal that

cooking from scratch, using fresh ingredients is a growing trend with 4 in 10 claiming to do it more

often nowadays. 42% of those surveyed claimed to prepare their evening meal from scratch six or

more evenings a week. Half of adult meals and a quarter of children’s meals were prepared totally

from scratch.

54% of all evening meals (excluding takeaways) were prepared with ingredients that were in the home

already versus 19% prepared with ingredients specifically bought for the previous night’s dinner.


51

Ready meals made up 4% of the previous night’s dinners and 9% were previously prepared meals

which were reheated.

Table 4 – Evening meal preparation: adults vs. children (126)

Adults’ meals Children’s meals

Prepared from scratch, no ready-made ingredients 49% 24%

From scratch with some help from shop-bought sauces

and other additions

30% 30%

Mainly pre-prepared or ready-made ingredients 9% 25%

More of shop-bought, prepared and fresh 6% 12%

A total ready-meal solution 4% 7%

Overall, findings suggest a trend towards increasing interest in cooking at home from basic

ingredients on the IOI. However, current findings do not distinguish the specific socio-economic

groups experiencing these trends. Therefore, it is hard to assess whether this increase in home

cooking will also have a positive effect on the dietary quality and thus the health of those population

groups with higher risk levels.


52

8 Conclusions and Recommendations

8.1 Conclusions

Defining food skills has proven to be complex. Food skills encompass far more than a set of

mechanical skills and are highly contextual in nature, which makes their assessment and comparison

even harder. So far, there is a lack of a theoretically based definition of food skills, and definitions vary

in terms of focus and detail. Common themes include planning, preparation and mechanical/practical

competencies.

What is clear from the literature is that knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating alone is not

sufficient to improve dietary standards. Other competencies are needed to translate this knowledge

into practice. Studies have shown that food skills equip consumers with the ability to prepare meals

for themselves, without which they might be more inclined to consume pre-prepared or takeaway

meals, which are generally higher in fat, salt and sugar.

A direct relationship between food skills and health has not been established to date, possibly due to

the lack of a formal definition of food skills. However, there is clear evidence the procession of food

skills can influence healthy eating behaviour and dietary quality, which can affect health. Evidence

suggests that the ability to cook may be linked to health as it encourages proper attitudes to healthy

eating by fostering an awareness of what food is. Lack of food skills may have a negative influence on

dietary quality, as it can lead to a reliance on pre-prepared foods and takeaways, which in turn can

result in an unintentional increase in intakes of energy and fat and an insufficient intake of fruits and

vegetables.

With regard to food skills on the island of Ireland, no comprehensive assessment has been carried out

and the relationship between foods skills and health is currently unknown. This report offers a basis

for defining food skills and will help guide those who wish to investigate this issue further.


53

8.2 Recommendations

Key finding Public Health Implication Recommendations Relevant for

The study of food skills

and domestic kitchen

practices of consumers

is hindered by a lack of a

detailed, theoretically

based definition of food

skills, resulting in a lack

of reliable measurement

tools and empirically

gathered data.

Without consistent,

empirically gathered data,

the relationship between

food skills and health

cannot be reliably

assessed. Varying

definitions used by

different studies prevent

comparison across

populations, settings and

time.

Those working in this

field should not

assume a shared and

implicit

understanding of

what constitutes food

skills and that these

are the same for

everyone.

A clear definition of

food skills must be

developed that will

allow for comparisons

across populations,

settings and time.

Public health academics

Food behaviour

researchers

Health promoters

Educators

Food skills may be

linked to health as their

procession encourages

proper attitudes to

healthy eating and

provides an ability to

translate healthy eating

guidelines into everyday

practice. Therefore, a

lack of adequate skills

may undermine health

promotion efforts.

Those lacking adequate

food skills may also lack

the ability to choose and

prepare healthy meals for

themselves, resulting in

an increased reliance on

pre-prepared and ready

made foods. Although

these foods are generally

higher in fat, sugar and

salt, a lack of food skills

may render consumers

unable to distinguish

better choices of pre-

When designing and

planning healthy

eating campaigns,

public health

professionals should

be aware of the lack of

food skills as a barrier

to dietary

improvement and aim

to address this issue

in order to increase

the effectiveness of

healthy eating

campaigns.

Public health

professionals

Health promotion

agencies

Food skills educators


54

prepared foods by

interpreting nutrition

information labels.

Special attention

should be given to

population groups

such as men, which

have been shown to

be lacking adequate

food skills.

It is important to

emphasise learning of

food skills, particularly

among children, as

traditional sources of

learning such skills (i.e.

learning from mothers)

have changed over time,

thus placing higher

importance on non-

domestic sources of

learning food skills. The

learning of food skills in

the home remains

important, however.

Some children these days

may not have the

opportunity to emulate

their parents and learn

food skills at home as due

to various life/work

commitments, parents

may not be cooking from

basic ingredients very

often. On the other hand,

the uptake and

engagement with practical

school courses has also

been reduced.

Policy makers and

educators should

place a greater

emphasis on teaching

and passing on life

skills, such as food

skills, to children

through practical

lessons at schools.

Although courses such

as home economics

currently exist, food

skills constitute only a

small part of such

modules. In addition

to the above, such

modules exhibit

varying levels of

student engagement,

particularly among

boys who as shown

previously, may grow

up to rely on pre-

prepared foods or

others such as

mothers and partners

to make their food

Policy makers.

Educators

Parents and other care

givers who can pass on

skills to children


55

decisions.

Parents and other

caregivers, particularly

older women who

tend to have greater

food skills, should be

encouraged to pass on

these skills to younger

generations.


56

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